Priceline Hotel: 3* Phoenix (Downtown) Hyatt Regency

[bbbb]

I just bid this at 5 pm tonight for tonight. I started at $37 and got a counter offer to add $10. I rebid $41 and won the bid @ $43.

Fri, Oct 28, 2005

Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM

Check-Out Date: Sat, Oct 29, 2005

Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM

Your Offer Price: $43.00

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 1

Subtotal: $43.00

Taxes & Service Fees:

$12.64

Total Charges: $55.64

[pegster]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but where do you see a counter offer if you get one?

Is it straight after bidding or an email or another way???

I only seem to get straight yes or no's....

[DDSeeker]

Pegster,

Priceline will give a counteroffer straight after bidding if it gives one at all. You will see wording similar to this: Priceline could not find a hotel at $xx, but if you are willing to raise your bid by $xx, you can make this bid again.

Conventional wisdom is that if you see a counteroffer, you have a 100% chance of getting the counteroffer accepted. Most experienced Priceline bidders try to undercut the counteroffer. That is, if Priceline gives you a counteroffer at $17 greater than your bid, you can probably win the hotel with a bid less than $17 over the bid that generated the counteroffer.

Of course, your ability to undercut a counteroffer depends on many factors. Do you have enough free rebids to undercut a counteroffer? Can you sit out the 3-day waiting period if you run out of free rebids and your undercut bid is rejected? (Once you reject a counteroffer, you can't accept it later. At least this is my understanding. I'd like to know if someone has experience that proves my understanding wrong.)

In short, it would be difficult to miss a Priceline counteroffer. It appears on the same screen showing that your bid has been rejected. Experienced bidders usually try to undercut a counteroffer, but may be limited by the number of free rebids remaining and how much time they have before they need the hotel room.

[pegster]

Perfect - Thanks very much for the explanation!!!

[bbbb]

If you get a counter offer,the amount you bid is usually very close to the amount needed to get your room offer accepted.